What Jack Burton Would Say At a Time Like This
by Nomadic Nerd
Summary: Jack Burton runs into Sarah and a few others some time after the events on the beach in the series finale. So, what would Jack Burton say? Obviously Jack Burton is in this.
1. Chapter 1 Blue Hawaii

**A/N:** I can't believe it's been four years since I posted the first chapter of Chuck Takes a Stand. How time flies! Since I didn't get to watch hours and hours of Nerd HQ last summer (and again this summer), I did try to finish (or at least work on) the five stories I have in progress, but either my muse was on vacation or life prevented me from writing. This one started as a one shot that popped into my head while I was driving home one day. Funny how the last of the stories I started writing will be the first posted.

This is my post beach story. As a character, I've always liked Jack Burton. As a father he sucks though. Warning, this story is Jack centric. I really struggled with finding a title and thought I'd play off the Big Trouble in Little China reference.

This is also my first posted story that I used a Beta. MichaelFX volunteered to help on a different, as yet unfinished, story a few years back so I enlisted his services for this and I'm sure you'll see his handiwork compared to my previous works.

Another chapter follows this one. As of now there are two finished chapters but MichaelFX asked for an epilogue to follow them so I started working on one but I can't promise how quickly it will be posted. I am not Zettel or David Carner. I really believe they each have several clones of themselves.

This is where I'd normally ask for reviews but given my horrible track record of reviewing stories I think I'll just take what you offer instead.

 **Chapter 1**

 **Jack Burton versus the Beach**

 **Ohau**

 **May 2016**

Sarah was sitting at a table at the Mai Tai bar in the Grand Hawaiian Hotel when she spotted a familiar face sitting at a table with two men. She saw him glance over and lower his sunglasses briefly, giving her an ever so subtle smile before resuming his conversation. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her father but she smiled anyway. He looked like he was working, however he still managed to catch her out of the corner of his eye. A short while later, after his associates, more than likely marks in his latest con, left, he stood up and made his way over to her.

"Hey kiddo, you here on business or pleasure?" Jack said as he leaned over to give her a brief hug.

"Actually, a little of both, you?" she replied as he released her and sat across from her.

"Business is pleasure when you do it right," he said with a familiar gleam in his eye.

"You never change," she said with a laugh.

"Where's the schnook? You and Charlie are still together aren't you?"

"It's complicated," she answered, remembering Chuck's retelling of the story on the beach about the first time he met her father. Frowning, she wished she could remember it herself.

"Uh-oh, what'd Charlie do? Should I get a hold of one of the bone breakers I know that owes me a favor?"

She laughed loudly before replying, "You know, I think you actually mean that. No, Chuck didn't do anything wrong, but unfortunately our marriage didn't last a year before trouble hit."

"Sorry to hear that. I'd have bet anything that you two were a sure thing, and you know I only bet on sure things. That's why I gave you the money for the wedding. Which, by the way, I never even got a picture of."

"You paid for the wedding?" she asked surprised. Chuck hadn't given her many details about their wedding when he told her their story because he'd said he wanted her to have her own memories of it and not his.

Her question shocked Jack. He removed his sunglasses and looked deeply into Sarah's eyes trying to determine if she was serious or trying to pull one over on him. It didn't take a con man to know something was going on.

"You're not kidding are you? Darlin', maybe you'd better start at the beginning and fill your old man in on what's going on."

Sarah sighed deeply and tried to swallow the lump in her throat before speaking. "Dad, something terrible happened. Something that tore Chuck and me apart."

Jack saw tears forming in her eyes and his heart broke. His little girl was tough as nails and he rarely saw her cry, not even when she broke her arm during their armored car scam, so he knew this was bad. He moved to sit beside her and took her hands in his.

"Angel, I'm sorry. Tell me what happened," he urged as he kissed the top of her head.

"I don't know if you know what I did when you saw me last, but I worked for the government, actually we both did," She paused to see his reaction.

"Yeah, Charlie told me you were some kind of Fed."

"Yeah, I got recruited the day you were arrested in San Diego. They let me finish out my senior year then sent me to train that summer before sending me to college."

The color left Jack's face in shock before turning red with anger.

"They told me you got away and they didn't know where you were! You were only 15 when I got arrested. Why would they recruit a 15-year old girl?"

"The forged birth certificate you got for me was so good, they really thought I was 17 and that I would turn 18 before reporting for training. Anyway, I got a free college education because of it. They got me admitted to Harvard, which I doubt I could have gotten into on my own. If they'd known I was 15, I'd have probably ended up in Juvenile detention or put into the foster care system. Both of those options were MUCH worse than what I did instead, trust me."

"Angel, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I was always proud that you slipped away. I assumed you followed our plan and used the money to lay low until you were old enough to go on the grift without fear of going into the system. That's why I thought you were playing the schnook when I saw you after getting out. Then, when he told me you were a Fed, I figured you got recruited after a con had gone bad."

"Like I said, things worked out better this way. I got a good education and was able to use the skills you taught me to take down those who wanted to hurt innocent people. I had a good job, my assigned partner and I worked really well together. Later, he even became a boyfriend of sorts, but even that was incomplete, like something was missing from my life but I didn't know what. Bryce and I had a lot of fun, but it was all superficial. We never talked about our past with each other, we really never connected on anything other than the next mission. It's like we both knew it was temporary, so neither of us really invested ourselves into what was required to call it a relationship, we never let the other see behind our walls. Then something happened that made people suspect that Bryce had turned rogue. I was devastated, not because I was in love with him or anything, but I thought he'd conned me. That I was just a mark to him. He not only betrayed his country but me as well. Bryce was missing for a few months and since I was his partner I was assigned a handler to watch over me to make sure I wasn't rogue as well. We were sent out of the country on another assignment, and as soon as I got back Bryce had broken into a government facility and stolen some information and emailed it to someone he knew. I was sent to investigate that person and see if he was an accomplice, and that's when I met Chuck."

"I never figured a boy scout like him would do anything against the law." Jack was confused by the way Sarah was talking about the events leading up to her meeting Chuck. It was detached, not the way someone describes meeting someone they fell in love with.

"Oh, he didn't. Turned out he was an innocent bystander, Bryce sent it to the one person he thought he could trust. With what he learned it was decided that he could be an asset to the government, so I was assigned to be his handler and my cover was as his girlfriend."

"Sounds complicated. But cover girlfriend? Angel, I know how good an actress you are, but believe me, it was more than just a cover. You two had it bad for each other, you were just better at hiding it, and maybe no one else knew, but I could see it. So when did it become not a cover?"

"I don't remember," she said softly looking out towards the ocean to hide her tears.

"Okay, spill. That's the second time now that you haven't remembered something. Give your old man the short answer. What's happened to you?" Jack said as he struggled to understand what had happened to his daughter. He watched as Sarah tried to compose herself before answering him. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed his back as she turned to face him. He released her hands and cupped her face to wipe the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.

"It's okay Angel, take your time. I'm here for you." Jack dropped his hands from her face and leaned over to kiss her cheek and put his arm around her shoulder in a soft embrace. She leaned into him for bit before starting her story again. He released her and held her hand again.

"Thanks Dad, but the truth is there is no short answer. I wish there was, but from what I've been told, things between Chuck and I tend to get complicated at times. Anyway, apparently we left our government jobs after our wedding and started our own company. A few months before our first anniversary a bad guy named Quinn kidnapped me and wiped out five years' worth of my memories. All my memories of Chuck were gone. I woke up in a hotel room still thinking I was an active agent and that it was early 2007, before Bryce went rogue. What's worse is Quinn then posed as my boss and told me that Chuck, his friends and family were terrorists and they were the ones that wiped out my memories. He also claimed they killed both my boss and Bryce. After hearing that, I was determined to take Chuck and his group down!"

She paused as she shuddered a bit. Jack could tell how painful this was for her. He felt his anger rising but knew better than to express it now. Sam, Sarah was never very talkative about herself and he didn't want to interrupt her until she finished her story. But he was definitely thinking about sending that bone breaker he mentioned earlier to meet this Quinn character. So he simply held her hand until she was ready to start talking again.

"Dad, it was awful, I kidnapped his sister and told Chuck I'd kill her if he didn't meet me. We were on the way to the meet when she crashed the van we were in and knocked me out. He took me to a house we were looking to buy and tried to convince me that I was being lied to by Quinn. He even untied me but then I tried to kill him. He refused to fight back. I pulled my gun and was pointing it at him when I saw our names carved into a doorway and suddenly I knew that I had carved them. That maybe he was telling the truth. Then Quinn showed up and confessed that he'd duped me. Before I could process what he was saying, he tried to shoot me but Chuck jumped in front of me, he took the bullet meant for me. Thank God he was wearing a vest! He told me to run because I was still wanted by the authorities, who thought I'd gone rogue."

At this point a small sob escaped from her and Jack moved to give her a tight hug. This had the unintended effect of opening the dam as she openly sobbed into his shoulder. He hadn't held her like this since she was a child. He'd forgotten how much it hurt to see his daughter in pain. He whispered softly into her hair, telling her that it was okay and he was there for her, realizing all the while that he hadn't been there for her and at the same time realizing that he hadn't been when this had happened. The sobs subsided and he reached into his pocket for a handkerchief.

"I'm sorry, I guess talking about this is harder than I thought it would be," she said as she used his handkerchief.

"It's okay darlin', we can stop if you want to," he rubbed his hand up and down her back like he did when she was little and had a stomachache.

"No, it's okay, I'll keep going. Where was I? Oh yeah, after I fled the house I went to my hotel room to grab my things to go on the run, but Casey showed up and gave me a copy of my, or rather her video mission logs. I watched them and, even as I saw myself talking, the woman on the screen was unrecognizable. The longer the mission went on, the more open, vulnerable even, she became. I saw her transform from an agent to a lovesick woman. That's not who Sarah Walker is, or at least not the Sarah Walker I was. I'd never lower my walls, never ever let anyone in. No one could hurt me if I kept them at arm's length. But she did, she let him in. She wasn't me, I couldn't be her and yet, there I was confessing my love for him to the camera, or rather she was. I didn't know how to be her, she was who he wanted, not me. I had to get out of Burbank, back to the only life I knew, my life. I went to say goodbye to Chuck, to let him know that I knew he had been telling the truth, but I didn't feel what his wife felt. I told him I was going after Quinn for stealing my life. He knew that I had to go after Quinn, and he wasn't going to hold me back. Besides, how could I stay with a husband that I didn't know, and even tried to kill? I wasn't his Sarah. So I told him goodbye and walked away from him. I was so angry, I focused that anger on getting Quinn. In the end, I needed Chuck's help to track him down. Once the job was finished, I left him, again. For the second time he let me go. I could see the hurt in his eyes, I could tell he wanted so badly to ask me to stay but he put my needs ahead of his. I drove around for a while and ended up at a beach. As far as I could remember I'd never been there before. I don't know how long I walked along the water's edge but I had the sudden urge to sit down. As I sat there and saw the vastness of the ocean before me, it made me feel as though I were adrift, floating through life with no destination, no purpose. My whole life I've had a purpose, a mission to complete, whether it was running cons with you or my job with the government. When one finished, the next one started. I didn't always like the things I had to do but at least I had a purpose. Now I had nothing. The man who was both my partner and boyfriend had died nearly three years earlier. My mentor, the person that recruited me, had been dead for four years. I thought you were still in jail. Mom, was… not an option. Add to that no job, no friends, no family, no ties to anything, and lastly no future. I had nothing except a hotel room, a suitcase and a car that I didn't remember buying. I felt I had to leave but I had nowhere to go and nothing to do when I got there. I couldn't work for the government anymore because my missing memories would be a liability and, honestly, I didn't want that life anymore. Especially after seeing how close I'd come to completing the fake mission I'd been given. Dad I almost killed him!"

She choked up again but managed not to break down like earlier. A few tears escaped and ran down her face. She wiped the tears away with his handkerchief. She stood up and walked to the fence at edge of the patio. She rested her hands on the handrail and watched the ocean once again. Jack got up and moved to stand beside her. He didn't speak, he waited because he knew she wasn't done yet.

"I know I could have stayed, but the life I saw that his Sarah had scared me. Could I be that Sarah again? So I sat on the beach for the first time in my life with nothing to do, hoping for a sign from the universe to tell me what to do." Sarah paused to compose herself and wipe away more tears that had run down her cheeks.

"Wow, complicated doesn't begin to cover your life, angel. Makes me almost wish that ole Charlie had an affair instead of what you've been through. So did you get your sign?" Jack asked as he shoulder bumped her like he used to do when she was younger.

Sarah snorted as she answered, "Yeah, Chuck sat down beside me. I hadn't told him where I was going but somehow he knew where to find me. He told me that the place we were sitting at was important to us and said he didn't want anything from me, he just wanted to make sure that I knew he was someone I could count on, and that he would always be there for me. I asked him to tell me our story. For the next hour or so I listened. The stories he told me about our time together made me laugh and cry. Then he told me about a crazy idea his friend had; that a magical kiss, like in fairy tales, would restore my memories. So, I asked him to kiss me."

"A magic kiss? You didn't really think that would work, did you?"

"No, not really, but seeing the hopeful look on his face made me want to try. Of course, the kiss didn't bring my memories back. When I told him it didn't work, I could see he was disappointed. I don't know why but I didn't like disappointing him so I told him it may not have been magical but it was a really nice kiss. That made him smile and he asked me to go out on a date, in his words 'a final first date'. I don't know why, but I agreed. He promised to take me somewhere that neither of us had been to before so that the memories would be new for both of us. The date was fun. He came up with the idea that we treat it like we had just met and didn't talk about anything that had happened between us in the previous five years. I don't think I'd laughed so much in my life. He was so different than most other men I'd met. He was so unassuming and, well, charming. I didn't fall in love with him that night, but it did make me want to stay and find out for myself if I could be the person from the mission logs. He also offered me a job. It turns out that before my memory loss, we were in the process of transforming the company we'd created into a cyber security firm. So to keep myself busy I accepted his offer. At first I was concerned about spending that much time together, but as it turned out we barely saw each other during the average work day. I was more involved in the investigative side of things as well as the day to day running of the company, you know sales, marketing and such. Chuck was running the technical side, the nerdy stuff. At first, I told myself that it was because I had nowhere else to go. Besides, if it didn't work out I could always leave."

They turned and went back to their seats and each took a drink from their respective glass before continuing. Jack was hesitant to ask his next question but he had to know.

"I'm guessing it didn't work out since you're here alone."

"Actually, within the first six months, the business was hugely successful. Also, I'm not here alone, Chuck and I are here celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary. Shortly after our final first date, Chuck and I started dating again. Since we never actually divorced, we renewed our vows on our second wedding anniversary, and nine months later, Lisa was born," She said with a smirk as she pointed over Jack's shoulder.

Jack turned around and saw Chuck coming towards them, and he was carrying something. A child, a little blonde haired girl. When he stood next to Sarah's chair he could see that she had brownish eyes. Except for her eyes, he could swear he was looking at his little Sam.

"Jack! Fancy meeting you here! We tried finding you to let you know about, well you know," Chuck said as he reached his hand out to Jack.

Jack took Chuck's outstretched hand without taking his eyes off of his …granddaughter? Jack whipped his head around to look at Sarah, whose smile got wider.

"You made me a Grandfather?"

She shrugged and laughed as she got up to take her daughter from Chuck. She blew raspberries into her daughter's neck causing the 18 month old to laugh and squirm in her arms.

"Lisa, this is your grandfather, and Dad, this wiggle squiggle is Lisa. Say hi Lisa."

Lisa's eyes got big and she laid her head on Sarah's shoulder and gave a small wave as she put her thumb in her mouth.

Jack, still in a state of shock, mimicked the child's wave back.

His little Sammie was holding a near duplicate of herself. Of course there were differences, but Lisa was so close to his little girl. Now Jack didn't have an Intersect, in fact he'd never even heard of it, but the sudden rush of images of his Sammie at Lisa's age was as close to one of Chuck's 'flashes' as one could get.

"Dad. Dad, are you okay?" Sarah asked, the concern in her voice was evident.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I was just remembering you at this age. She really looks a lot like you did. I guess she gets the brown eyes from the Schnook."

"Hazel, Chuck and Lisa's eyes are hazel, not brown."

"What's the difference?"

"Well, I've been told the difference is that depending on the lighting, their eyes can seem to be either light brown, green, or a goldish amber color," Sarah said as she smirked at Chuck.

"Hey! Lisa and I can't help if our eyes change like mood rings! And Lisa and I think it's pretty cool," he said as he stuck his tongue out at his wife.

"No, No Dada!" Lisa said with a frown, as she pointed her tiny finger at her father.

"Ok, I'm sorry. No more sticking tongues out," Chuck replied as he took her small hand in his and kissed it.

"That's my girl! You tell the bad daddy to be nice," Sarah said laughing before kissing Lisa's cheek.

None of the adults were sure what exactly Lisa said to Chuck next, but it was obvious the she was chastising Chuck for his transgression.

"I said I'm sorry, will a kiss get me out of the doghouse?"

"I think it just might, if it also comes with some ice cream."

At the word ice cream Lisa's demeanor went from strict disciplinarian to excitement as she babbled incoherently.

"Yes, Lisa gets ice cream too. So, I have one strawberry for Lisa, Rocky Road for Sarah. Jack what's your poison?"

"I'll have Rocky Road as well."

"Okay, be back soon."

"So Dad, do you want to hold her?"

"Think she'll let me?"

"Yeah, she's very friendly," Sarah said as she handed Lisa to Jack.

Jack held his granddaughter and marveled once again at the similarities with his daughter. Lisa reached for his sunglasses so Jack took them off and put them on her face.

"Oh Dad, that's probably not a good idea, she may break them."

"That's okay, she seems to like them," he said as Lisa beamed at her mother.

"So, you guys still running the company together?"

"We still have the company, but we took some time off after Lisa was born. Now, we're there on a more part time basis. We want to -, well let's just say we like time with Lisa," Sarah stumbled at the end of her statement.

"You want to be better parents than you had," Jack finished her thought.

"Dad, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay angel, I know I wasn't the best parent. I treated you more like a partner than a daughter. I'm glad you and Charlie are the parents that I wasn't. This little one deserves the best, and I think she's got it," Jack said as he hoisted Lisa up in the air and wiggled her as she giggled. He brought her back down to his chest and she hugged him. He kissed her head as he blinked back tears from his first hug from her. He looked at Sarah and saw her wiping away the moisture from her eyes as well.

"How long are you here Dad?"

"Oh, I have to be in New York at the beginning of next month but I just finished the job I was here for so I thought I'd stay for a bit. How about you and the Schnook?" he inquired with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"We're here for another ten days. Now, that's the third time you've called him that, am I missing an inside joke? Because, it seems as though you're doing it to get a rise out of me. Besides, he's not a schnook, he's a wonderful, caring intelligent guy- wait that sounds familiar. Have we had this conversation before?"

Jack smiled before speaking. "Yeah, and you said the same thing last time. And judging by how happy you and little miss wiggle squiggle here are, I'll admit he may not be a class 'A' schnook after all. But don't expect me to tell him that. I like it that he's a little nervous around me, makes him try harder to get in my good graces," he smirked.

"I've missed you Dad. I know it's only been three years for you but with my missing memories it has been a lot longer. I want to see you more. I'd like it if you were in Lisa's life more than once every few years. Can you do that for me?"

"Darlin, I've broken too many promises to you to make another one, so let's just say that I'll try to do that for you."

"Thanks, Dad. That's all I can really ask. So…, do you have any dinner plans tonight?"

"Nope, my schedule is wide open for the next ten days." Jack replied. Normally the idea of spending ten days with family would send him straight to the nearest exit. But after what he'd gone through the previous six months, the idea of spending time with Sarah and his granddaughter Lisa sounded perfect. Perfect except for the schnook being there as well, but seeing how happy Sarah and Lisa were, maybe he wasn't such a schnook after all, but he'd keep that to himself.


	2. Chapter 2 New York State of Mind

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! This story hasn't gotten the volume of views I was hoping for and I'm pretty sure my title is a big reason for that. I honestly thought the Kurt Russell movie reference was clever but without either Chuck or Sarah's name listed I can understand why the views are low. I'm also bucking the trend of making Jack a complete villain. Don't get me wrong, he was a pretty terrible father but I always felt he loved Sarah, he just couldn't seem to figure out an appropriate way to be the father she needed. Also, why read my stuff when you've got Zettel, DC (you know who you are), and 's stuff to read? LOL! Thanks again to MichaelFX for his services. Take care!**

 **New York City**

 **July 6, 2016**

Jack Burton sat at one of the many Manhattan midtown bars nursing his third, or was it his fourth, bourbon. His confusion about how many drinks he'd had wasn't from the amount of alcohol but rather from getting lost in his thoughts about his most recent encounter with his daughter. Sarah…..the name had grown on him even though he sometimes looked at the stunningly beautiful woman she'd become and saw instead a smiling five year old named Sam, who was missing her front teeth, holding her arms up to him silently asking to be picked up. He'd lost contact with her since his arrest in '97. He'd spent ten years in a minimum security prison, what was often referred to as the country club of the penal system. She never visited while he in prison but he got occasional letters from relatives and friends that didn't exist. He knew they were from her, she had always been clever.

It was how he'd found her when he got out. Ten years without his angel. He'd been worried when he first contacted her. Slinging frozen yogurt wasn't what he imagined she'd be doing. And things confused him even more when she introduced him to her boyfriend. Then the whole Lichtenstein con happened and he thought she was on the con after all. But when she sent him out for ice cream and he saw her outside with the police, he knew she wasn't on the con. The Schnook confirmed she was a cop of some sort. A few years later he learned she was in the CIA. She tracked him down in Miami to ask for his help tracking down the fake wedding planner that scammed her. He was proud of her, proud that in spite how the universe had knocked her down, she managed to get up, dust herself off and defiantly dare it to do it again.

He smiled at the thought that all of the skills and innovative ways of circumventing the law he taught her ended up being used by her, in a way, to enforce the law. The irony wasn't lost on him. How different would his life be if only someone had 'recruited' him? Of course, that meant he'd have never met Emma, which would take away the only good thing he's ever done in this world. Although she was a stunningly beautiful, strong and independent woman, he sometimes couldn't help wishing that she was that small girl that would smile her toothless grin at him like he was her entire universe. The love and complete trust in those eyes were the reason he took her with him.

He's agonized over the years about his act of selfishness. Over the years he'd made every excuse possible to justify his actions, but in those fleeting seconds when he was honest with himself, he couldn't deny his true motivation was fear. Fear that once Emma finished her college degree that she would sue for sole custody and revoke his visitation rights. Fear that Emma would meet someone else, someone that Sam would call Daddy, someone Sam would love more, someone that would make Sam forget him. Fear that Emma would take Sam and disappear and he'd never see her again. So he'd applied an old conman's proverb to the situation, 'Do onto other's before they do onto you'.

Looking back, he knew that bit of justification was a load of bull. Emma loved Sam as much as he did, and she knew how important Jack was to Sam and would never hurt her by taking that from her. Emma was a good person, unlike himself. Emma, there's a topic best avoided tonight if he had any hopes of remaining sober.

Taking a long drink from his glass, he knew that he'd give back all the money he'd made over the years to be able to pick her up like that one more time, for her to look at him with those blue eyes like he was the center of her universe. The way she now looked at the Schnook and her daughter, Lisa. When he was in Burbank the first time, he couldn't help but notice that she now saw him for what he was, she'd actually called him a thief. Those things didn't seem to matter to her when she was little. He wondered if she'd ever look at him like little Sam had. He knew he wasn't ever going to be considered father of the year material, but he must have done something right for her to have turned out so well. Or maybe she turned out that way in spite of him.

After helping her the second time in Burbank, he knew that his life and hers clashed. So he made the decision to leave rather than risk embarrassing her on her wedding day. He left the money he'd been saving for her over the years and hoped it somehow made up for all the ways he'd wronged her. Either way he was proud of her. She had found a way to not only survive while he was incarcerated, but flourish. She used the skills he'd taught her and stayed on the right side of the law. Plus, judging from the posh Hawaiian resort she was staying in, she was doing VERY well. Maybe, he'd have done better by offering his services to the government.

As he was doing the self-examination of his life's decisions, someone sat in the bar stool beside him, one of the few empty seats at the bar. He snuck glance at the person in the mirror behind the bar and noticed an attractive woman who was about his age. She was wearing a fairly standard business attire, typical of the many women who worked in the local corporate offices. He watched as the woman with light golden brown hair hung her attaché case over the back of her seat. Their eyes met briefly and he raised his drink at her in acknowledgement. He saw a weariness in her eyes, as though they'd seen too much bad. He recognized the look because he'd seen it many times in his line of work. Until now, the only time it really bothered him was when he saw it in his daughter's eyes. He broke eye contact as he tilted his head back and finished his drink. As he set his glass back on the bar he heard the woman next him speak to the bartender.

"I'll have want he's having, and while you're at bring another one for him."

"Thanks, chivalry should make me protest your generosity, but I've never turned down a free drink and I'd hate to spoil my streak by starting now," he said quietly, with a ghost of a smile. Looking at her he decided that Jack Burton, former Con Artist, was off duty this evening. Tonight he was just Jack.

"No problem. Besides, as long as you get the next round your sense of chivalry should remain untarnished," she said with a smirk.

"Deal, but I'm afraid you're too late, it's already pretty tarnished. But thanks for giving me an out. By the way, I'm Jack," he said holding out his hand as way of induction.

"Mary." Mary Bartowski said as she took his hand and, contrary to many romance novels and fanfiction stories, neither felt a spark, or an instant deep emotion connection from the handshake. It was just a brief handshake, however, when their eyes met each knew they had met a kindred spirit. The old saying that 'misery loves company' is mostly false because truly miserable people tend to be loners, and con artists and former deep cover CIA agents fit that description rather well.

"You from around here?"

"No, just here on business for the week, then it's back to Chicago."

"You don't sound like a Chicago native."

"I'm not, but how do you know what a native Chicagoan sounds like?"

"I was born there. Lived there until my old man died when I was ten, then my mother married a guy that moved us around the country a lot, so I'm good with accents." Jack paused, surprised at his candor. He didn't talk about his stepfather much, too many bad memories. He continued, "I'm having a tough time with your accent though, I hear a little bit of Baltimore but there's also bits from elsewhere in the country, definitely some West Coast in there. And, have you spent time in Europe?"

"Military brat, Dad had mostly stateside assignments but a few overseas ones as well. My previous employer had me in Europe until recently."

"Ah, that explains it. Why'd you move to Chicago?"

"My daughter and her family just moved there and I wanted to be closer to my granddaughter," she said as she pulled out a picture of Clara.

"Granddaughter huh? Just learned a few weeks ago that I have one too. Kinda lost touch with my daughter and ran into her when I was on a business trip, small world as they say. Except for her hazel eyes, she's looks so much like my daughter did at that age. Like going back in time. I was so involved with work that I never realized that I'd missed so much until I saw the two of them. She's amazing, actually they both are. Oh yeah, and the Schnook she married is okay too. Wasn't sure about him at first, but there's no doubt in my mind that he loves her and will take care of her. So as son-in-laws go, I could do worse," he said, the melancholy he'd been feeling earlier returning.

"Yeah, moving to Chicago was a chance to reconnect with my daughter as well. My job kept me away for too long. Her father and I… separated when she was a teenager. We lost touch, my fault, same old story, put my career first, yada, yada. So I decided to be a better grandmother than I was a mother, so I moved there to spend time with her and my granddaughter. Make up for lost time and all that…" she said with a sad smile.

Jack picked up his drink and held it up to Mary. "To reconnecting."

She eyed him suspiciously for a moment before clinking her glass against his. "And getting things right this time. Of course it's gotten more complicated now that my son in California has a daughter too, so being a good grandmother gets me lots of frequent flyer miles," she continued with a happier smile than before.

"So what do you do?" he asked.

"I'm a regional supervisor for the Pinkerton Detective Agency."

"Get outta here, are you pulling my leg?" he asked as he nearly choked on his drink.

"No, really here's my badge," she replied as she flashed the gold colored shield with black lettering.

"I'll be damned, what are the odds?" he chuckled.

Mary's eyebrows raised slightly at his statement. "You got a problem with the Pinkerton's?"

"No, well not anymore, but that's a long story and I haven't eaten yet. How about? You had dinner yet?" he said as he finished the last of his drink.

"No, I haven't. But since you still owe me a drink, I'll let you buy me dinner instead. But only if you tell me the long story while we eat," she replied as she downed her drink as well.

"Well I don't know, a drink is cheaper than a dinner after all," he answered, humor showing in his eyes.

"Don't be too sure, I was thinking about a double shot of the Johnnie Walker Blue I see on the shelf," she said, pointing at the bottles on the shelf behind the bar.

"Well, considering how much I've been paying for bourbon here, I'd imagine that would be more expensive than dinner, so you've got yourself a deal. If I may be so bold, the place across the street's pretty good, if you like Italian that is."

"Italian's fine with me," she replied as she downed her drink as well.

They stood and paid their bar tabs and made their way to the door.

"Ladies first," Jack said as he held the door for Mary.

"Careful, your sense of chivalry is in danger of losing more of its tarnish," she joked.

"What can I say, you bring out the best in me."

 **Tony's Restaurant**

"Well, was I right, is this place good or what?" Jack said as he put down his coffee mug.

"Yes, very good. I don't think I'll need to eat for a week after that meal."

"So, I guess now that the meal is over we can discuss whatever it is that the Pinkerton's want from me."

"Excuse me?"

"C'mon, you can't expect me to believe that we just happened to meet, do you? This isn't some Hollywood Rom Com meet cute."

"Well Jack, stranger things have happened, but I can honestly say that the Pinkerton's have no interest in you as far as I know. Everything I've told you tonight is the truth. I'm here on business and I honestly had no idea if you'd be in that bar tonight. But, I did know that you go there when you're in town and so I made it a point stop in; I was hoping to meet you, but not for the Pinkerton's."

"If your bosses don't want me, why'd you want to meet me? How do you even know who I am? For that matter, how do you know my bar habits?"

"I think I can answer all your questions by showing you a picture of my son and his family," Mary replied as she pulled a picture out of her wallet and handed it to Jack.

Jack looked at the picture of a group of people standing around a Christmas tree. He looked at the faces and saw Chuck, Sarah, his granddaughter, Cop Face, and two other couples, one with a child.

"Wait, Charlie's your son?"

"Yes, he is my son, but I named him Charles. I may have lost the battle trying to stop everyone from calling him Chuck, but I am drawing the line at CHARLIE though," she admonished with a mock glare.

"Okay, okay! Chuck it is," Jack relented, raising his hands in surrender.

"Charles would be better, but I can live with Chuck. It's certainly better than Schnook," she said with smirk.

"I swear it's meant good naturedly. I mean come on, when I first met him he was dating my daughter and only had a few grand in his savings account. Besides, it's an unwritten rule that no one is good enough for a man's daughter. But I'll admit my first impression was wrong about him. One thing I did know was that he was truly in love with her. So, now tell me why you wanted to meet me?"

"I talked to Chuck a few days ago and he told me they'd seen you in Hawaii and that you mentioned that you'd be in New York while I was here. So, I made some inquiries and found you. Honestly, I just wanted to meet Sarah's father, we do share a granddaughter after all. I've met Emma and Sarah seems, I don't know, different than her, so I was curious if she favored you," she explained with a shrug.

Mary saw a brief flash of emotion show in Jack's eyes. Whether it was pain, guilt or shame she couldn't tell, but it was more than likely a variety of emotions.

Emma, that's twice her name had come up tonight. It had been over 25 years since he'd taken Sam from her. The moment Mary said her name, the years of anguish he'd felt over his act of selfishness must have shown in his eyes based on Mary's reaction.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories," Mary said apologetically.

"That's okay, it's not your fault. Just been doing a lot of self-reflection this past week and what I did to Emma was far from my best moment. Not that I have any right to ask, but how is she? I never bring it up with Sarah."

"She's doing well. She and Molly moved to be closer to Chuck and Sarah when Lisa was born."

"Molly?"

"You don't know about Molly? Molly was orphaned as an infant and rescued by Sarah. She asked Emma to take her in. Emma ended up adopting her so now Sarah has a sister. She's a great kid and absolutely loves Chuck and Sarah and being an aunt to Lisa."

"So, Emma got a second chance to be a mother after I took that from her with Sarah. Sarah still managed to bail her old man out," Jack stated as he looked away for a second to compose himself.

Mary saw Jack's anguish and reached across the table and took his hand. "Jack, right or wrong, you had your reasons for running away with Sarah. Sure, looking back you may wish you'd done things differently, but unfortunately we can't undo our past mistakes. All we can do is move forward and try to make amends as best we can. Look, I'm not judging you, in fact I'm the very last person to judge anyone's parenting decisions. When I told you I picked my job over my family, what I didn't say was that I just left without a word. For nearly twenty years my kids thought I abandoned them because I didn't love them. It was hard coming back and trying to explain why I left. I've missed so much but at the time I felt it was the right decision and no amount of second guessing can change that."

"I heard once that we don't get to be old and wise without first being young and stupid. I think I got the young and stupid and the old parts covered. Still waiting for the wise part to kick in," Jack said with his characteristic smirk.

Mary laughed, which in turn made Jack laugh.

"So Jack, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure fire away, but depending on what it is I may decline to answer."

"How did your oncologist appointment go?"

"How did you know?"

"Do I need to show you my badge again? And don't lie to me because I'll find out the truth anyway," she said with a smile.

"Well Miss Pinkerton Detective, he didn't exactly give me a clean bill of health, he would like to see my cholesterol be a bit lower, but the cancer appears to be gone, for now anyway. All it took was a surgery, some radiation and chemo. Hey, with some luck maybe it's stay gone," He replied with grin.

"That's great news!"

"Does Sarah know?" he asked with a worried expression.

"No, I only found out this week as I was trying to see why you were here."

"Good, I'd rather be the one to tell her. I'm working on some things now that, if they work out, will allow me to be around her more without me having to look over my shoulder all the time."

"You mean your new consulting business? Does she know that your visit to Hawaii was legitimate and not a con?"

"Wow, you are good. That's supposed to be a secret. No, I'm sure she thought I was pulling a con on the men she saw me with."

"You should tell her. The only problem I see with your new job is that you're still wanted by the government. Jack, I have contacts in the government and I may be able to get you a pardon if you agree to work with them on a consulting basis. You have a lot of knowledge that could be useful to several agencies. In fact, we could use your services at Pinkerton as well. We even have an office in Los Angeles."

"What's involved with being a consultant?"

"Well, from the government side of things, it would mean giving lectures, providing training to new agents and occasionally giving your advice on various operations. Pinkerton would bring you in to look over various crimes to see if you have any insights to help catch the culprits."

"What would the pay be?"

"Well, not as much from the government, other than the pardon and paid expenses. Now once Pinkerton learns that you're a consultant for several government agencies, I'd expect a six figure starting salary. That could become more depending on how useful your insights are. Insurance companies would rather pay for recoveries than loses."

"I gotta admit, that sounds better than trying to make a go of it on my own. Yeah, see what you can do," he said.

"Good, here's paperwork for you to look over. Inside there are two offers, one from the government the other is from Pinkerton. All you have to do is return the signed copies to me and I'll do the rest. There's also a phone in there with my contact information as well as some pictures of Lisa." She said as pulled a legal sized envelope out of her attaché.

"You sure you aren't a con artist too?"

"Let's just say that Sarah and I used to have the same employer," she smirked.

"And here I thought knowing all the cons would keep me from being conned."

"I've been doing this about as long as you have, so don't feel bad,"

"Oh, I don't feel bad, impressed maybe, but not bad."

"Well you know what that means don't you?" she inquired with a playful look in her eye.

"I'm afraid to ask."

"Your chivalry is going get a little more tarnished because I'm paying for dinner tonight."

"Well, it was never that shiny anyway. So here's to a fresh start, a chance at reconnecting and new friends," he replied as he held out his hand.

This time when Mary reached out to shake his hand there may have been a spark, or maybe it was just static electricity.

 **A/N: Well, what did you think? I know, a Chuck story with no Chuck (or Sarah) in the second chapter. Don't know where this came from but it's been in limbo on my hard drive for a while and I blame David Carner for shaming me though his prolific writing pace into getting me off my lazy butt and finishing it. I also have to admit that The Charleses (Steampunk Chuckster's) story 'The Detective and the Tech guy influenced who I had Mary employed by. I am working on another chapter but it's not finished yet and MichaelFX will get a chance to do the voodoo that he does so well before I post it. I PROMISE that Chuck, Sarah and Lisa will be in it as well as some other fan favorites. Take care!**


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